Four former Blackwater Worldwide security guards have been put on trial in the United States over the 2007 killings of 14 Iraqi civilians.
On Wednesday, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, Dustin Heard and Nicholas Slatten appeared before a federal court in Washington for the selection of jury, AFP reported.
The Blackwater mercenaries, who have the support of an army of lawyers, were dressed in suits and ties.
The Blackwater employees had been charged with killing 14 Iraqi civilians and wounding 18 others using gunfire and grenades at a busy Baghdad intersection on September 16, 2007.
Judge Royce Lamberth is overseeing the trial, which is expected to last several months. He has been a US district judge for more than 25 years and he has a military background.
On Wednesday, the judge advised the prospective jurors not to read or watch anything about the nearly seven-year-old case. He particularly mentioned social media networks, such as Twitter. "Just don't do it," he instructed. "Just stick to the evidence" in the courtroom.
A large number of Iraqi witnesses are scheduled to testify in the case in what the Justice Department says is likely to be "the largest group of foreign witnesses ever to travel to the United States for a criminal trial."
Blackwater Worldwide, which is now known as Academi and is based in McLean, Virginia, is the most notorious private security firm that had operated in Iraq.
Many Iraqis believe the US military allowed Blackwater mercenaries to commit numerous war crimes against their compatriots with impunity.
GJH/GJH